Induction of creep crack morphology in iron oxide microparticles: An outcome of the common-ion effect

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to investigate the influence of the common ion effect and varying NaOH molar concentrations on morphology, particle size and magnetism of iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic particles (IOMPs) synthesized by co-precipitation. The IOMPs were characterized by SEM, XRD, FT-IR, TGA-DTA, EDX-SEM, SQUID and Raman Spectroscopy. SEM revealed cuboidal morphology (10–250µm) with SQUID demonstrating saturation magnetization between 4.75–20emu/g. The IOMPs synthesized in the presence of common ions was smaller in size with less magnetization and showed circular and creep crack fractures within an optimal pH zone. All other characterization studies supported these findings. Overall, results revealed that the morphology, particle size and magnetism of the IOMPs were influenced by common ions from two salt systems at varying concentrations of NaOH.